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Friday, April 25, 2014

Vegetable Momos–Sikkim Cuisine

Sikkim is a North Eastern state of India which is located in the Himalayan Mountains. Sikkim is surrounded by Nepal to the west, China's Tibet to the North and East and West Bengal in the South. Sikkim is the second smallest state in India and is the least populated state in the Country. Another interesting fact about Sikkim is that it has 11 official languages. Coming to the Sikkim cuisine, dishes like thupka, chowmein and momos are popular here. From wiki - "Noodle-based dishes such as thukpa, chowmein, thanthuk, fakthu, gyathuk and wonton are common in Sikkim. Momos – steamed dumplings filled with vegetables, buffalo meat or pork and served with soup – are a popular snack.[105] Beer, whiskey, rum and brandy are widely consumed in Sikkim,[106] as is tongba, a millet-based alcoholic beverage which is also popular in Nepal and Darjeeling. Sikkim has the third-highest per capita alcoholism rate amongst all Indian states, behind Punjab and Haryana." Today I have chosen Momos with a vegetarian filling. You could use this same filling for making spring rolls also. These Momos are addictive and you cannot stop with one.. This is definitely a healthy snack which has lots of veggies, very less oil and also this dish is steamed. I served these delicious Momos with Spicy Garlic Tomato Chutney.. I got this recipe from here and made few changes.. This recipe yields 12 momos

Make the filling firstHeat oil in a pan and once it is smoking hot, add the garlic, green chili and onionsSaute for a minuteAdd the vegetables, salt, sugar and cook for about 2 minutesAdd soy sauce, sweet chili sauce and saute for 10 secondsAdd the sping onions and remove from heatAllow it to cool completely

Make the doughMix together maida, salt and oil and add water a table spoon at a time and make it to a tight doughSet aside covered for 15 - 30 minutes

Make the momosDivide the dough into 12 piecesMake small disc with each pieceKeep filling in between and make it frilling and close the momosThe frilling adds a lot of beauty and actually the appearance of the momosGrease a perforated plate and place 6 momo pieces with little place as it will become big when it cooksPlace it in a steamer / idli cooker / cooker with a bowl of water in bottom and place the perforated plate on topSteam cook for 5 minutesAllow it to cool completely and serve!!!

From Wiki - "Sikkimese cuisine is one of the popular cuisines coming from North-East India. Sikkimese are traditionally rice eaters. Sikkim is the only state in India with an ethnic Nepali majority and for this reason, Nepalese cuisine is very popular in Sikkim. Some of the popular dishes are - Gya thuk or Thukpa - is a noodle based soup with vegetables or meat.Momo - stuffing minced meat, vegetables or cheese in flour dough and then making them into dumplings.Phagshapa - is strip of pork fat stewed with radishes and dried chillies."

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